DaysofPal- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed suspending the EU trade agreement with Israel, citing the catastrophic conditions caused by Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
Dr von der Leyen expressed her anger at Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, stating that the European Union would not stand idly by in the face of the ongoing atrocities.
Campaigners and activists have called on the EU to suspend its free-trade deal with Israel as a way to pressure the Israeli government to pull back from its devastating bombardment of Gaza and not to carry out its plan to occupy Gaza.
The proposal from the Commission would require a majority of the 27 member states to support suspending the trade deal as a means of halting the inhumanity in Gaza.
Dr von der Leyen stated that famine has been declared by a humanitarian monitoring body in parts of Gaza at alarming levels, warning that it could spread throughout the bombarded Palestinian enclave if Israel continues to restrict the entry of aid.
“What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world,” she told the European Parliament. “People are killed while begging for food. Mothers holding lifeless babies. These images are simply catastrophic.”
“We will propose sanctions on the extremist ministers and on violent settlers, and we will also propose a partial suspension of the Association Agreement on trade-related matters,” she said in her speech to MEPs.
The commission has been criticized for being too slow to push back against Israel during its near two-year war in Gaza, with Dr von der Leyen often the target of that criticism.
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